1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved hanging device for supporting a clothes-hanger on a suspended conveyor. It relates more particularly to a hanging device having an open position and a closed position, which is opened for releasing a clothes-hanger which is being carried thereon.
2. Background Art
A large number of hanging devices are conventionally fastened to the drive chain of a suspended conveyor. They serve, for instance, to receive a clothes hanger in order for the conveyor to transport an article of clothing hanging on the clothes hanger to a given place of deposit.
Ordinarily these hanging devices are moved past a loading station which is arranged alongside the conveyor path, and one by one the clothes hangers are automatically transferred into hanging devices at the loading station. At the destination for an article of clothing on a given hanger, the corresponding hanging device is opened and the clothes hanger is ejected or otherwise transferred.
For this purpose, clamp-like hanging devices are known which, in closed condition, form a resting surface for the hook of the clothes hanger and are opened at a specific position so that the clothes hanger drops down or slides onto an ejection rod.
For example, Federal Republic of Germany OS 21 58 744 discloses a hanging device which is formed by two arms which engage each other in fork-like manner and which, in closed condition, assume a V-shaped position with respect to each other so that the clothes hanger is held in the center of the two arms. One of the arms is connected to an opening lever which, at the place of ejection, passes over a nose which is formed on the conveyor line and is thereby pressed outward, as a result of which this arm swings downward to such an extent that it is aligned with the other arm and the clothes hanger can slide down on the arm which has been swung away, onto a storage rod.
Such a hanging device is expensive in construction. The delivery of a clothes hanger is possible only when the two arms are aligned with each other and the stable position of the clothes hanger is eliminated in this way, which requires exact agreement between the nose and opening lever. Furthermore, it is possible that the suspended clothes hanger will twist during transportation and thus become so tilted with respect to the arms that it no longer slides down by itself.
Hanging devices are furthermore known in which the clothes hangers are hung on a hook which is swingable in a direction opposite the direction of transport or in an upward direction. At the place of ejection, this hook is swung back by an opening lever which is connected to it, so that the clothes hanger can slide down out of the hook. Disadvantageously, if a horizontal force is applied to the suspended clothes hanger during transportation, the hanger can travel so far on the hook that the subsequent angle of opening is not sufficient to permit the hanger to slide down by itself. Similarly, the clothes hanger may also tilt in this hanging device. If a heavy article of clothing is not present on the clothes hanger, it may happen, as a result of receiving a static electric charge during transportation, that the clothes hanger remains adhered to the hook and cannot be ejected by itself.
Federal Republic of Germany U 18 73 579 discloses a hanging device having a U-shaped profiled rail for the simultaneous reception of several clothes hangers. The profiled rail is mounted in hinge-like manner on a shaft which extends in the direction of travel. To prevent the hanging device from being opened solely by the force of the hanger hook resting on the profiled rail, the hanging device also has a supporting member which must be swung away before the hanging device can open.